Weapon of Righteousness
by The Varajan
Summary: Fear the evil man for he will destroy you and all you hold dear, but fear the good man more for he would put the whole world to the torch in his pursuit convinced that he was right in doing so.
1. Chapter 1

**Here's to a good story, this is a completely alternate storyline so bear with me. And some of the names and titles of certain areas and things have been changed for literary purposes and because there is VERY little information on the net. And come to think of it, NNN is not a very popular game, much less as a source of fiction but still.**

**Prologue**

It had been a long and bloody struggle, these past few years. The Goblins, and their allies had grown more and more bold, attacking isolated farmlands and villages. Recently in the never ending war, the previous respite earned by the humans was waning, the Goblins were going farther in their attacks just as they had been doing for the past millennia.

As far as to attack a few small cities, the humans had to do something, just as **they, **had been forced to do for the past millennia.

The new war for the shards had grown steeply in price as time trickled away.

The King hadn't much to look forward to these days. The war had been tenuous and quiet at best, but the enemy was moving.

Fortunately, so were the soldiers and warriors of the Kingdom.

He had watched with pride as two of his favored Temple Knights, in only five short years became weapons of righteousness. Tireless, deadly and monumentally powerful weapons.

Heroes to the Cause.

Aspharr and Inphyy

Fine knights, and fine leaders. The King had plans for them, good plans, they were destined for great things, especially that Aspharr.

The King smiled, as he finished contemplating the same, a steward let him know that Aspharr and his company of knights, not to mention commanders were coming any minute from a dozen skirmishes in the nearby farms.

The two imperious doors of his lavish throne room opened and two prominent figures strode through followed by a gaggle of retinue personnel.

The King rose from his golden throne and smiled at the Temple Knight, he gestured for the same to approach.

"Aspharr" he said with the charisma that had so many times moved his people to great things and unlikely victories.

"Milord" said the young knight bowing his head.

The king placed both of his coarse, ring adorned, hands on the knight's shoulders and looked deep into his blue eyes.

"I've been told everything, about your heroism, your sister's courage and of the perfect victories you carved out of the battlefield. Your actions in the field two days ago will keep our forces well supplied and in great spirits" said the King.

The knight shrugged and glanced back at the black figure standing behind his sister quietly and patiently as he had been forced to learn to do.

"Milord, those battles should have been lost" he said

"But they were not, for your actions and the actions of your sister, they were not"

"But, Sesh-"

"What about him? Did he endanger the outcome of the battle?" asked the King irritably, not once setting his eyes on the hooded figure, who's own were downcast.

"No lord, he was the one who won the battles. By his tactical skills and his directions we managed by. It was by his leadership that we were led to victory" answered Aspharr as eloquently as he could.

This position always made him uncomfortable.

"Oh truly? It takes more than simply sitting on a hill dispatching runners to tell your warriors what to do. It takes courage, it takes blood and honor, and a sword in your hand to do what must be-"

"He was not on a hill my lord. He led the troops with us, if not ahead of us"

Aspharr glanced back at Sesh whom he could tell was smiling internally for Aspharr's kindness.

"I am not so certain he should be standing here now. He received several wounds, one of which was an arrow that pierced his chestplate, luckily his armor saved his life, but I would feel more confident about his safety if he was requisitioned a suit of Temple armor" he half whispered to the King.

The King finally looked at Sesh and stepped around Aspharr, he nodded approvingly at Inphyy after stroking her hair then looked at the young man.

Anyone who was watching could see he was looking at Sesh like a leper.

Like an insect.

The King looked the young man over and then looked back at Aspharr, then back at Sesh.

"How soon will you all be dispatched to the east?" he asked the cloaked boy.

Only now did the kind notice how slightly hunched over he was, like he was tired and bearing his own body weight was becoming an increasingly laborious task.

"We will be dispatched in exactly three days my lord, then we are to take the canyons before reaching Fort Wyandeek" answered Sesh with a light and quiet voice, a voice that would seem almost elvish if one knew the tone.

The King looked at Sesh one more time, then turned on his heel.

"You are dismissed, do **not **fail Aspharr" said the King before Sesh bowed and limped out of the room.

Aspharr looked at Sesh exit the room, unassisted and almost unnoticed save for Gabriel Athan, Sesh's companion and friend.

"My King, Sesh is-"

"Of no consequence my child" said the King.

"You and I have had this conversation before; a leader must know where his subordinates lie, Sesh is your subordinate, you must treat him as such. He is your servant, and you must be comfortable with him serving you as such. What is a leader who serves his servants more than they serve him?"

Aspharr listened to the King's words like he would bear salt in a wound.

"Besides, you know his…..condition" he added.

"A condition he never asked for, but bears none the less" retorted the young knight as carefully as he dared.

"I know that but the boy is-"

"He is your son. All he wants is your approval"

The King looked at Aspharr quietly, his wrinkled brow stretched a little as he squinted at the knight in thought.

Aspharr bowed his head and left, Inphyy and his retinue of sergeants and commanders at his heels.

He absolutely hated to be in that position, it always left him with a bad taste in his mouth.

The King sighed, they had fared very well in these territorial battles by Sesh's hand, but he wished the boy had never come at all.

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Inphyy walked next to Aspharr angrily, glaring at her brother as hard as she could in order to get his attention, but wise to this, he ignored her.

"Aspharr, why do you keep standing up for him?" she asked, her words like venom.

He didn't answer right away, but rather thought about it, then spoke.

"Because he is doesn't deserve any of the treatment he gets from the King"

"Brother! If he is not brave enough to stand up to him then he deserves everything he gets" she quickly shot back protesting.

"You aren't helping yourself at all standing up for that coward" she added.

"Inphyy that's enough" he said firmly.

She hesitated to say anything more and quieted down.

"I don't understand you. You are his friend in private and he is an object of disgust for you in public, that makes you a hypocrite"

"It does not" she said quietly but bitterly.

"It does, fine friend you are. You know better than to mislead him like that"

"I am **not** misleading him, I just wish"

She shrugged and slowed down her pace.

"It's just, he is so, weak. And because of that, I don't think he should be with us in the war"

"Inphyy" said Aspharr looking at her neutrally.

"He is **not** weak. He's a gentle spirit is all"

"Too gentle if you ask me" she stated thoughtfully.

As they passed the corner she noticed a red smear of blood on the side, the kind of which comes from a bloodstained hand, three fingers smeared on the wall.

Both of the Temple Knights looked at each other and thought the same thing.

Assassins in the palace.

As both nearly broke out into a run they passed the corner and noticed a black hooded figure slouching as it sat on the floor.

Inphyy and Aspharr's minds both connected again and both thought that Sesh was probably bleeding to death.

The girl in the crimson armor ran to the boy's side and palmed his face nervously.

"Sesh, Sesh!"

She was surprised when Sesh looked at her instantly and almost asked her if they were under attack. But the look on the Temple Knight's faces told him, they were concerned for him, they were not in danger.

"Oh, hello Inphyy" he said with his usual sleepy smile.

"Can you get up?" she asked, almost a whisper.

"I-I can, yes. I'm just so drained"

"I'll tuck you in then" she said sweetly.

She glanced at Aspharr as both of them put one of his arms around their shoulders.

He looked at her with a certain look.

Hypocrite

She looked away as she and he both shuffled him away.

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Aspharr opened the door to Sesh's modest living quarters, quarters that would be fit for a life-bound servant rather than the blood heir to the kingdom.

A room without windows, a cold room, a stone room as opposed to the brightly lit halls of the rest of the alabaster palace, it was a quiet, depressing little thing.

They both laid Sesh down into his lumpy but rest worn bed and pulled off his hood.

His pale face was paler than usual, paler than Inphyy's skin.

"Will you be alright Sesh?" asked Inphyy who was sitting next to him on the bed.

He nodded without eye contact.

She hesitated, then stroked the side of his face. His eyes wandered to hers as her palm started and finished its little go.

"Get better, we need you" she said, barely a whisper and mustered a smiled.

He smiled his sleepy smile and looked away.

Obviously a little embarrassed.

Or bashful, the latter was more in his nature.

As Aspharr gently shut the door he looked at Inphyy who avoided looking directly at her brother.

"What you are doing is cruel"

"It's not cruel brother. I just- I"

"You are giving him the wrong impression. And mark my words, one day, it will come back to haunt you"

"Brother, I am not doing anything wrong!"

"Yes you are, you are leading him on whenever you know it or not. Who is he to you huh? A toy? Or just a sounding board for your problems?"

Inphyy stepped away from Aspharr and walked down the halls to the outside, some fresh air would calm her down. She was red in the face and a few more seconds and she was going to have a fit.

She stepped outside into the light and sighed.

Who was Sesh to her really?

He was the bastard half-breed son of the King, he wanted the lord's approval but Aspharr even if it was an unwilling recipient, received all of it.

However, Sesh and Aspharr were inseparable friends, the only tension in their friendship came when they set foot on the palace.

But to her, he was…….well……Sesh.

"I'll be nicer to him from now on" she told herself for the hundredth time but never really resolving to do it.

"I meant it this time. After the King's decision, he is going to need all the support he can get"

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Sesh laid on his bed in the dark with nothing of any true importance on his mind. He was tired, he was stressed from his visiting father and he was as always, none at all pleased with any of his efforts.

Why?

What was it he was doing wrong?

He could never be as skilled as Aspharr with a blade, but he tried, what Aspharr might have lacked for in hesitation. He more than made up for in courage.

Although he could never command the love and devotion of his troops as Aspharr did. He did have their unconditional trust. His tactics and strategies had always pulled them through, although, that was going to be put to the test.

It was going to be a gory year, he could taste the blood already.

Not metaphorically speaking, that small cut above his lips hadn't healed yet and he was tasting his own blood.

He smiled drowsily.

Blood was red. Red was Inphyy's favorite color, it was her hair color as well. It was the crimson shade of her garments and sword when she went into battle.

She was so lovely.

And he loved her so, damn, much.

He idolized her in his own way.

He always strove to suggest another course, rather than disagree with her when she lost her temper or did something impulsive.

He always looked after her emotional well being and was happy to be her confidant.

Sesh adored her beyond words.

He wanted her to want him. He wanted above all things for her to care about him the way he wanted her to. But she was always aloof to his little involuntary signs. And he was much too bashful to tell her how he felt. It was the one thing he lacked the courage to do.

He resolved to do it however, after the war or near the end of it. He was going to tell her how he felt.

He frowned slightly.

Sure, he was the ways that he was with his condition. But he saw no reason why she shouldn't give him a chance.

In Sesh's mind, he could indeed carve out a happily ever after for himself even with all the little things that didn't go the way he wanted.

His condition

Father

His own shortcomings

But he was sure, as sky to earth, that Inphyy could love him.

It was the deepest desire his heart was capable of bearing. He could turn his back on the world, father, kingdom and all.

If she would only say three words.

I Love You

As he nodded off, his head wandered to his fondest memory; It was on a sunny day where both of them were hiding in the sunflower fields, sharing secrets and whispering that she gave him a kiss on the cheek when he told her he was going to marry her when they were older.

He still had the little necklace she gave him then as children. Their so called, engagement necklaces.

It was all so lovely.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here be Chapter Two, enjoy!**

**A Test of Skill**

In a green field separated by two plateaus, gathered two divisions of soldiers. One army in orange, one army in red, both standing on opposite plateaus, staring the other down as an officer in gray armor walked parallel to the ranks of each inspecting the troops and seeking out the commanders with warm efficiency waited for the sign to attack.

By the red army, the officer in gray armor inspected the iron clad infantry with a sleepy smile. Occasionally stopping to tighten a strap on a shoulder plate or cuirass, or to correct a rookie on how his sheathe was dragging.

After his quick inspection of the orange army which was much more experienced and required less instruction the officer had delayed the battle by no less than ten minutes while inspecting the opposing troops.

The red commander, avoided looking at the officer and had a steely glare on her face as she looked at nothing in particular, she eyed the sunflowers and listened to the gentle swoosh of the windmills and balled her fists tighter and tighter as the officer worked his way down the line towards her.

As he neared her he stopped by a specific group of soldiers who stood at lax attention and sighed with contempt when he stood in front of them.

"Jasper, may I inspect your sling?" asked the officer gesturing at the goat's stomach, filled with liquid and slung on a red string across the soldier's waist.

"No you may not Sesh"

"May I please inspect your sling?"

"Piss off half-breed!" yelled Jasper spitting at the officer's visor and shoving the same so hard he lost his balance and nearly fell down the steep hill.

Most of the men smiled at Jasper's bravado, while most of them would have felt like their stomachs were about to be pulled out at doing anything even remotely like that to an officer working with the Temple Knights, disrespect towards Sesh was only reprimanded by Aspharr.

So in commander Inphyy's face, it was let pass.

Then again, Sesh never reacted the way one thinks. When he was pushed, Sesh smiled and nodded at Jasper who bit his finger at the officer in turn. Then he stepped off towards the wheat field without another word at the soldiers, nor at the red commander.

Inphyy continued to glare angrily towards Sesh's general direction, she also shot a glare at Ana, one of her more compassionate soldiers who was always running to get Sesh's attention. The same almost stepped out of rank when Jasper pushed him off.

"He is so damnably weak" she thought to herself.

From the blur of wheat strands, an iron sword handled by an iron arm rose and waved toward the other army.

"Give it your all and victory will be ours!" shouted Inphyy, her dispatch of soldiers moved out and her archers behind them as per her instructions.

As both armies approached one another to do battle, no one noticed the sword had fallen and the iron clad officer was shuffling away towards the sunflower fields completely disinterested in the outcome of the battle. The shuffle was slow and deliberate, like the officer just wanted to fade into the background and disappear.

Both armies charged one another, the orange army approached with a steely pace, all of the soldiers marching in step with one another, shields raised and swords drawn back to stab. The archers stood at attention from their vantage point atop the plateaus awaiting orders from the blue commander, the same seemed to raise his head feeling the wind and gestured to the red army with his lance. The archers nodded and drew their first merciless volley.

The red army smashed into the orange lines only to be shoved back as the soldiers of the blue lancer bashed them back with their shields and stabbing at the red soldiers. With each merciless push, each line of red soldiers was eliminated. And the fighters, unfortunate enough to be at the back of the formation were struck down by the volleys of arrows that came from the archers of the blue commander.

When the archers of the red army attempted to fire back they found their arrows fell short and simply struck the orange soldiers' upturned shield.

The fight was predictably short and brutal, the red army was destroyed, piece by piece. The red archers were not too far back from the infantry, so they fell prey to the orange volleys.

The red commander was left alone, surrounded by the orange army which had taken few precious casualties and the blue commander had his lance raised at her menacingly.

Inphyy sidestepped the point of the lance and swung her blade at the commander's head and found he had bucked and batted the lance's blunt end at her right ankle which was just about to plant itself in the ground in time with her strike, in only a second she was completely off balance but recovered quickly enough to kick at the commander's lance and roll away.

The lancer held his weapon behind his arms and waited for her to make the first move, but thought better of it. He swung his lance in a wide arc in a dancelike fashion and before she knew it, the blade was stabbing through the air at her. She blocked and slid the blade away in response, stabbing forward at him trying to have at his cuirass.

The lancer tried to push her away with the shaft of his weapon but her surge was too fast, the swatted the weapon out of his hand by swinging her entire body with the momentum of her elegant, crimson blade and as she came out of the spin and placed the blade on her forearm for steadiness and accuracy as she tipped the point to the lancer's throat.

He stood there for a moment, letting go of the heat of the battle with a neutral look on his face.

"Do you yield?" asked Inphyy

The lancer nodded earnestly and the knight girl smiled as she sighed from the effort of the battle.

"You're much improved Inphyy, I had never seen you fight like that" said the lancer.

"Well brother I've been picking up a few tricks from Sesh"

"Thought so, he fights half the time on the ground. What happened that he got nearly knocked down from the hill?"

"Jasper pushed him off"

Aspharr sighed and looked about the red soldiers, who stopped playing dead, for Jasper who had mysteriously disappeared, most likely at the mention of his name and Sesh's in the same sentence.

"I'll look for him when he decides to come back"

Aspharr looked at the soldiers and smiled earnestly.

"All of you, go back to the fort, we'll join you shortly" he shouted in his usual, smooth voice.

The soldiers came together in one orange, crimson mob and marched off. Words of jest and boasting came from the group as the soldiers bore their bruises for comparison and showed off their obviously impressive skills.

"Brother, is there something wrong?" asked Inphyy, her watery teal eyes looking to his.

Aspharr turned around to face her as he watched the soldiers march off.

"Not at all, you defeated me, so command of the Temple Knights is yours. It will be my honor to serve you" he said making a playful mock bow as if he was speaking to the King.

She punched him on the arm playfully in response and laughed lightly.

Aspharr then looked behind her and then locked eyes with her.

"Where did Sesh go?"

Recognition flashed in Inphyy's eyes at the mention of the name, "I-I don't know, but I have a good idea where he might be" she said remembering she had promised to be nicer to him.

As she led her beloved older brother to the sunflower fields she kicked herself internally, she allowed Jasper to treat him like trash. Her conscience was reminding her in a sing song voice that being nicer to Sesh includes being nice to him in public.

Both entered the sunflower fields which looked more like an ocean of vibrant yellow petals aloft which innumerable brown flower heads swayed in the breeze. At the center of which, three stones stood silently one leaning on the other to form something of a small, two sided pyramid, with the third and flattest stone provided support for the base. The stones were smooth and glowed with soothing warmth in the autumn sun.

This had been Sesh and Inphyy's hiding place as children when they wanted to play castle or play a trick on Aspharr.

Sesh was whispering an elvish song as he sat on the stones, his armored legs kicked at the base of the stone and his eyes scanned the horizon of yellow petals. If he knew Inphyy and Aspharr were there, he did not betray it, he simply went on singing the soothing tune.

Aspharr approached the half breed and placed his hand on his knee, before he could say anything the boy spoke first.

"Your soldiers broke Inphyy's" he said, more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, I followed your instructions, the wind was in our favor and my archers took care of hers"

"Good, but Inphyy beat you in close combat"

"Yes"

"You have to remember, when the opponent passes the killing point of your weapon, you have to use the rest of it. Every part of your weapon is a weapon, keep that in mind" he said gesturing to the shaft of his spear.

Sesh stared at his feet and fell silent, both of the Temple Knights noticed his unconscious tick about fingering his pointy ears. It came about only when he was embarrassed or sad.

"Is something the matter Sesh?" asked Inphyy who sat next to him tentatively.

Sesh hesitated looking at her but forced himself to, only to glace away quickly. Another tick with Sesh was that he would cry when he was enraged or feeling overwhelmed.

"I miss mother" he said wiping his eyes, he was likely feeling the latter.

"You never speak about her" said Aspharr.

Sesh, looked at Aspharr and seemed to want to say something but instead looked back at his boots and whispered; "I feel lost without her sometimes, she would always know what to do".

"What's wrong Sesh?" asked Inphyy placing her hand on his shoulder.

He looked back at her, his eyes had a tone of anguish in them as he spoke.

"I-I am too weak for this aren't I?" he asked her.

Inphyy felt as though he had read her mind for what she had said days before. The crimson knight fell silent for a moment. She looked at him again and said; "No, you are not weak. But Ana, for example is useless, she walks around as if cleaning up camp and putting the tents up was the most important thing in the world and she acts as if we actually need her"

She tried for a smile but was only met with a glare on part of Sesh who slapped her hand off his shoulder and stood up angrily.

"You-You are so pretentious just as your station of nobility would entitle! Useless? Ana is a wonderful human she is-"

Sesh stopped in mid sentence and lowered himself to eyelevel with Inphyy who was taken aback by his outburst.

"One day, you are going to deeply regret what you just said, so much so that you are going to hate yourself" he said through interlocked teeth, a few tears slid down his face as his eyes became predatory with anger and frustration.

He turned on his heel and cursed quietly in an elvish dialect as he marched off towards the fort.

Aspharr looked back at Inphyy, she could see the disapproval in his eyes because of her comments but he was unsettled by Sesh's reaction, they had rarely seen him angry, and never at Inphyy.

Inphyy looked away and Aspharr grimaced.

Sesh was a very, very precious friend to them. But just then, before he walked off, Aspharr felt as though they were all drifting apart.

Inphyy from both of them by her pride and bravado

And Sesh, because of his solace and frustration

This was the beginning of the war and there were already deep splits in unity.

What was going to become of them? Wondered Aspharr as he stared out to the sea of sunflowers.


	3. Chapter 3

**I've been neglecting stories left and right, but going to college required my absolute attention. Enjoy the chapter, later installments will come regularly.**

**Crossroads**

Under the command of Temple Knight Inphyy, the Red Sun army was led north and east to the Grey Lands were the influence of humans began to blur and the influence of the barbaric Goblins began to exert itself.

They marched into the mountain passes, everything was a dull grey, the earth was moist and flaky, the sky was shrouded in clouds and sand.

Totems decorated with dozens upon dozens of human skulls and skeletons dotted the passages, and carved upon these were the exultations of the goblins to whatever dark god they worshipped.

The troops continued to march silently, following their leader; the girl in crimson. Behind her marched her second, the young man in blue and their aid Heppe.

They were not welcome here

In the back of the troops marched a single soldier in black constantly watching for signs of being followed or perhaps an ambush.

Sesh quickened his pace around the column of soldiers when he saw they had stopped.

Inphyy glared evilly at the totems and at the shadows moving just out of sight.

"It's a trap I think. Look beyond their lines, see that stone arc? I'd bet you a whole crown that they will collapse that on our heads as soon as we beat them back"

Aspharr nodded at him, it made good sense. Inphyy on the other hand forced herself to look at Sesh and give him a slight glare.

"Nonsense, we will slay every last one of them before they even make it that far"

Sesh pulled up his hood and looked down, positioning himself slightly between Aspharr and her.

"Inphyy, I know that your father died fighting them. But don't let your hatred of the goblin cloud your judgment"

Inphyy's eyes locked onto Sesh, a murderous glare in her eyes.

"You will never say that again, and you will never question my command in public again. Is that understood?"

Sesh nodded

"But, commander please just don't give chase if they retre-"

"Silence! I will have no more of this. All soldiers! Forward!" she yelled, her raspy voice carrying through the fog like thunder.

Sesh drew his long sword and fell into pace with Aspharr as Inphyy led the charge to the goblin horde which took the charge with a roar of defiance.

Who were these humans to presume they could invade their lands?

The two masses clashed against one another, swords screamed as they clashed against one another. Shrieks and groans came as men but mostly goblins were cleaved and killed.

Aspharr's lance swooshed like a hawk's dive as it struck frail bodied goblins and skewered unfortunate shamans. Keeping the masses away by the spinning arc of his kill zone, stabs and slashes came with lightning speed as he maimed and fell goblins by the dozens.

Inphyy's blade shrieked as she danced through the mass, her sword being dragged along. As she passed, side stepped and spun enemies died. Arms lopped off, legs cleaved, chests split by the edge of her sword. She was covered in blood, but by her clothing one would never guess in the chaos of battle, save for the fact her face was dotted by bloody droplets.

Goblins continued to fall, their numbers decimated by the templar and by the human soldiers. Barbarian courage culled by the realization that at least in military terms, they were savages and the humans were civilized for a reason.

They fell back, a few at first and the rest followed. A panicked mass of tribesmen scattered by knights.

"Don't let them get away! Cut down every last one!" screamed Inphyy as she gave chase, her gait powerful and sure she homed in on the slowest goblin, her blade found purchase on its back.

She was followed by two dozen of the most eager soldiers, never once did any of them look back to see if the rest of the army was following.

"Aspharr! Hold the army here! It's a trap!" yelled Sesh as he put away a small telescope, an invention of the court mages, and ran after the overeager glory seekers. Fear clenched in his stomach, by the gods he knew it, it had to be a bloody trap! He had seen the goblins moving at the ridge, not armed with bows but with picks and ropes. They were going to bring down the arc down on Inphyy crushing her under tons of stone. But if she was lucky she'd pass the landslide and be cut off from help.

With the dancer's grace that was usual of his elvish parentage, Sesh sped towards Inphyy.

Inphyy couldn't see, she couldn't think, her eyes were locked on the closest goblin near her.

Every one of them were her father's murderer, she could feel it. She was chasing down the very goblin who had killed Father.

Within three more paces she reached the slowest goblin and cleaved its head open, without breaking stride she ran to the next closest.

In her tunnel vision, she didn't see the stones high above her slide, she didn't see her soldiers stopping, and she didn't see the shadow of someone behind her.

All she could feel was the fire in her veins; rage.

And all she could see was whatever vengeance allowed her to. The goblin that was in front of her, it was her father's killer just as they other hundred she had killed had been.

Something grabbed onto her and tripped her. She fell on her chest and struggled against her pursuer, she twisted herself around against what was struggling to keep her down, the angel wing pieces of armor on her back prevented just that, being grasped easily from behind.

Twisting herself over in a heartbeat and rolling, she reversed the positions with her blade in her hand.

She rolled on top of whoever had jumped her; she looked at the face and stabbed down upon it.

Sesh looked at her, his yellow eyes wide in surprise and fear, involuntarily two tears slinked out of his eyes and on the sides of his face as he looked at the sword that had been stabbed into the earth an inch from his face.

Inphyy looked straight at him and realized what she had done.

Shame hammered her like a one ton stone, she looked up and saw the goblins fleeing. Now out of embarrassment and not out of rage she gave them chase.

"No!" screamed Sesh as he wrapped both his arms around her neck and pulled her into an embrace. Inphyy struggled to get out of it but Sesh wouldn't let go, this close to one another she could see the little scar he had just under his left ear from when she had accidentally hit him with a stone as a child. She could smell him, he always smelled warm bread and of something distinctly himself.

She tried to tear away from him but he wouldn't let go, he wrapped both his legs around hers and with an ungentle strength he rarely displayed pressed her against him. She managed to look at him, his warm yellow eyes were stern with anger.

"You are not going anywhere" his glare said.

Inphyy screamed and ducked her head against his neck as the giant stone arc collapse, sending dust and debris flying over them. The shock of the several hundred tons of stone falling bounced them little ways down where they had come from.

The young templar girl couldn't help it, but she could feel a certain security in being in Sesh's arms. No pain came to her, but his grip slacked as everything quieted.

As Sesh's arm came off her and his legs uncurled themselves off hers his breathing became controlled, he looked at the girl on top of him. She, hesitant to let go of him, slowly looked up at him unsure if they were both still alive.

She sat up and he wheedled himself out from under her as if she was going to bite him.

"Sesh I-"

"I saw you!" he yelled at her, tears in his eyes, his mouth contorting as if he dearly wanted to cry.

"Don't lie. I trusted you, I saw you and I knew what you meant to do!"

Inphyy couldn't tear the words out of her throat, partly because she knew he was absolutely right.

She had meant to kill Sesh

The half elf retreated from her pulling his cloak back up and looking around for straggled goblins, but mostly just so Inphyy couldn't see him crying silently.

Inphyy wiped at her eyes and put back on her steely look by the time Aspharr and the others reached them.

"Inphyy! Are you ok-"

"Yes brother I am alright, Sesh saved me" she said, all her abusive tendencies and distaste for the elf had evaporated.

As Aspharr trotted to Sesh to embrace him he stopped as Sesh whipped out his armored hand as if to ward him away.

The young templar's heart dropped, he knew something had happened when Sesh tried to rescue Inphyy. His hand clasped on his mouth as to muffle any noise and the pain in his eyes that were now openly weeping had confirmed as much.

Sesh, looked around he couldn't stand to be near them, he saw the side passage in the canyon and strode off not caring if he was being followed by the soldiers or not.

The army looked at Aspharr and Inphyy and followed after Sesh as Aspharr gave them a nod in his direction.

Aspharr's gave fell on Inphyy's and with the force of a hurricane the phrase he quietly uttered smashed her composure.

"Inphyy, Light help me. What did you do to him?"

Tears welled around Inphyy's eyes as she confronted the thought she had been trying to snuff out.

"I just scared him. When he jumped me I thought he was a goblin so I-" she trailed off, her brother looked at her like a griffon. Quiet and still as he waited for the moment to strike.

Inphyy felt self disgust welling up inside her.

"That's a lie. When he rescued me, I was so mad about all of this I just wanted to kill the goblins who had killed Father. When he jumped me to save me, I just……I tried to kill him. I stabbed my sword next to his head"

Aspharr's eyes were wide in shock as much as anger.

"Inphyy…..you….-"

"Brother! You know as well as I do that it was his mother who left my father to die that day!"

"But Sesh doesn't know that Inphyy!" roared Aspharr with an anger that echoed throughout the canyon.

Inphyy was quiet and wide eyed

"Are you really that narrow minded? Sesh had nothing to do with that. The King told us what happened and his mother has been in exile all these years as a punishment. She will never see her son again and Sesh was fed a lie"

Inphyy couldn't speak, her head hung in shame.

"Gods damn it all Inphyy. Sesh was told that his mother was an idolater of the Dark so she was sent away and not executed as she should have been because she was mother to the king's son. Sesh beats himself up over it and you know it" snarled Aspharr.

"I never meant fo-"

"For what?! Not to abuse him every day? To give him the impression you like him like you used to until the day your father died?!"

"I never loved him!" shrieked Inphyy

"Yes you did" answered Aspharr his voice level, his tone poisonous.

"You did love him and you know it, but it was after his mother left your father to die that you started hating him"

Inphyy looked away, her teeth clenched she wiped at her eyes.

"He's still in love with you Inphyy. And every day you give him a reason to keep believing you might still care for him. He's naïve at heart but one thing he is not is stupid, he's starting to hate you too"

The army continued its march as Aspharr and Inphyy both joined the army again, the commanders were eerily quiet. Upon seeing their approach, Sesh broke out into a run towards the clearing where the goblins had horded themselves.

With a scream of anger he charged their lines alone.

"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" he screamed at the enemy, upon their faces he could see the faces of Aspharr, Inphyy and his father.

Why didn't they love him? Why did everybody hate him? Pity him? Shun him? WHY?!?!?!

Forgetting his training he simply cleaved his sword over and over into the goblins who were backing away, mistaking him for one of the mighty templar knights.

Aspharr and Inphyy charged in after him along with the rest of the army into a clash of pure chaos. Desperation fueled the goblins and their efforts and fury fueled the humans.

For Aspharr it was frustration

For Inphyy it was shame

For Sesh it was rage

The humans streamed into the goblin mass, killing them every which way as the goblins fought back to the last. Jumping humans and ducking under their powerful blows to slip a blade between the breastplates.

From the nearby stone formations bellowed an enormous troll, led by its goblin handlers.

It charged into the mass as it swung its enormous arms left and right knocking friend and foe into the ground where it stomped them. Crushing goblin bone and human armor under its calloused feet it continued by picking up masses of soldiers and throwing them at the stone walls.

Sesh continued to hack apart goblins with a viciousness that he had never exhibited before only to be knocked down the cudgel of a goblin marauder. His would be killer smashed the cudgel on his breastplate, denting it, only to be hampered as its prey raised its gauntlets in his defense.

A sword exploded through the goblins chest, it was connected to Gabriel, Sesh's friend. Gabriel reached down to help Sesh up only to be picked up in turn by the troll and thrown at the stone wall with the force of a catapult.

All that remained of the once proud young man known as Gabriel Athan was a splatter on the stone face and a crumpled broken body on the ground.

Aspharr and Inphyy saw this in shock. As the goblins retreated in full the troll stayed as it roared at the human's who encircled it. Sesh shoved himself up, bloodied and bruised and snatched up Gabriel's blade and shrieked in monstrous rage at the beast charging it with both blades.

No one there could believe what they were seeing.

Sesh had jumped upon the troll, stabbing both blades down into its flesh climbing up on the troll's shoulders. The beast roared in pain as it's tormentor bent itself out of its reach and danced on its body, shoulders and hands. In one flip of his body, the half elf brought both of his swords screaming into the troll's eyes toppling the creature and landing upon it.

He swung both blades in a bloody arc upon the dying creature's face again and again and again.

With the creature's death groan Sesh stabbed both blades into the troll's throat twisting them maliciously.

As the monster, died Sesh sat upon his knees on its chest as the blood mist lifted from his heart.

He looked at Inphyy and Aspharr, hatred burning in his eyes. The woman who spurned him and abused him, the man who was his father's favorite.

His lips drew back in a snarl but calmed as he looked away at a movement coming to them from the opposite direction that the goblins had fled.

A battered human soldier who hobbled towards them, from the emblem of the man's breastplate he could tell he was likely from Castle Varrvazzarr.

Aspharr wasted no time in coming to the man's side who then and there fell to his knees.

"The Castle is under attack" gasped the messenger. His eyes had a ghostly touch to them. And the wetness from under his breastplate likely meant we had was bleeding to death, more accurately he was almost dry.

"We need your help, The Ice Gate is about to fall"

Sesh and Inphyy had come to Aspharr's side and looked at one another then at the soldier.

"We continue to Fort Wyandeek, as per our orders"

"Inphyy!" protested Aspharr

"No, we **will** continued there. I will bring these goblins to justice for all they have done" she said, the fire that had kept her warm in her heart burning again.

"Then you do so without me" stated Sesh, the innocence in his voice returning.

The shock in the face of his comrades was clear, and so was the confusion.

"You can go to Wyandeek Inphyy and satisfy your lust for vengeance. But I will not allow those humans to die. If we leave Wyandeek as it is, that's one thing. But if the Ice Gate falls, the amount of people that could die will be astronomical, the goblins will cut through the Hinterlands leaving only death in their wake. I am not abandoning a castle full of families just so you can satisfy yourself. Light forgive you if you don't come with me Inphyy, because I never will!" he said as he glared at her.

He yelled "I never will!" again for emphasis

The dying messenger in the delirium of his death throes he rasped "Give this to my family, sir knight. Please, save everyone" as he held out a blood stained necklace which Sesh rushed to grasp as the man died, the man had mistaken him for one of the unstoppable Temple Knights.

He looked at the necklace with the naiveté of a child being handed an important task, then he returned to his new state of mind.

Regarding Inphyy coldly he searched her expression which was just as hard as his.

"We continue to Fort Wyande-" she started before he spun on his heel and marched away from them in the opposite direction.

Inphyy's heart dropped, she wanted to say something but the words wouldn't come, the army was watching. Her brother was watching as well, and he looked like he dearly wanted to go with Sesh.

"Aspharr, lead on to Fort Wyandeek. Onto the next battlefield!" she yelled raising her sword expecting a cheer, but the soldiers were quietly shuffling towards the general direction out of the canyon.

She had lost her men's devotion

Inphyy looked back at her brother; he had passed her and was marching with the men. He was only following her because he knew they could not afford to fall apart. And that was more important than breaking away to follow Sesh, even though that's what his conscience was screaming at him to do. She felt as though she had lost him too.

She looked back at Sesh; he was awkwardly climbing up a hill of stones. His step was quick and determined but he looked so small, so insignificant against the mountains. But he presumed to be as big as them as he marched up to pass them.

Soldiers from the army, Aspharr and she looked back to see the half elf working against the mountain's face as he tried to speed towards the castle in distress, a massive bulwark he pretended to save, alone.

Never once did he look back at them.


	4. Chapter 4

**No Permanence**

All the while Sesh continued his march, he noticed the snowflakes turning to heavy snowfall. The barren land turn to forest, and the forest turn to frozen tundra.

By an invisible compass, Sesh homed in on the castle by his own sense of direction.

He was dirty, grimy from battle and had nothing in the way of food or water. However the land provided plenty of drink in the north. He ate snow when he had to, or stuffed it into his water skin which he had slung around his shoulder to help it melt and ward against hypothermia.

As time passed he found himself relying on his sparse knowledge of botany to know which plants he came across were good to eat.

Every meal he had, he thanked his mother. He thanked her for teaching him that the Draga Plant from the middlelands was deadly poisonous in its thorns and leaves but its roots were rich in sustenance. The point of the Bloodroses was sweet as honey but it would submit him to a restless slumber.

Sesh continued his march towards Castle Varrvazzarr, the only thought that kept him going was the desire for a revenge of image, to prove that he was better than everyone. That he was good, that he could do grand things, that he wasn't worthless, that he was not weak. The warmth of the lands faded as he made towards his destination, and his anger swelled.

_"Damn Inphyy, damn Aspharr I don't need them. I can save everyone by myself!" _he declared to himself angrily.

In the distance, beyond the snowfall he could see the castle in all its lackluster and former majesty. Ramparts were broken, barricades splintered.

An anger swelled in his breast that had never been there before. He was going to save Varrvazzarr and that was not a hope or determination so much as a fact.

His failure was an impossibility, that much was certain.

Drawing his cloak around his neck and pressed on. Not hunger, not thirst, not fatigue could pester him or wane his resolve. An iron possession gripped his spirit and he would not rest. He walked until his feet bled and as they did he kept on walking.

King Vyden was a regal looking man. His armor plates made him seem in body as he was in spirit. Powerful and imperious, he was proud and wise as he had grown and aged in his long years at station in an unforgiving land and with a taxing duty.

Rarely would he be impressed and even more so swayed by others. So it was a great surprise to him when a single half-elf showed up at his castle's ramparts bearing the mark of the Temple Knights on his cloak and demanding to speak with him.

Such a strange occasion demanded his attention; in the heavy but warm stone halls of his throne room he leaned against the hearth which was carved from a massive stone into a wolf's head.

His three sons in full armor followed their guest, arms at the ready expecting treachery.

The stranger didn't seem to mind, his grimy visage and subtle, wide eyed smirk gave him the appearance of being slightly unhinged.

He pulled off his cloak and fingered stray strands of hair behind his ears.

"Greetings Lord Vyden"

The lord nodded to the half-elf as he looked him over, there was something familiar about him.

"I have come to relieve Castle Varrvazzar of its plight and to drive the hordes back through the Ice Gate"

His three sons remained quiet, only the youngest scoffed as he took the elf for the only reinforcement.

"And you intend to do that alone? Who do you think you are?" asked the youngest.

"Quiet Thomas, clearly he is only the messenger" declared the next in line.

The half-breed looked back at the last who spoke and swayed his head.

"No, it's just me my liege"

"What madness is this? You pretend you can reverse the attacks which took months to push us back as far as they have alone?!" declared the eldest bringing himself to an inch of Sesh's face.

"Yes" he declared simply, his eyes smooth and his voice level.

The King seemed to consider something as he looked the elf over in detail, there was just something he could not shake off. A familiarity in his face, his manner of dealing and of his eyebrows and ears most of all that reminded him of someone.

He felt, he should ask.

"What is your name emissary?" asked the King, his bushy beard giving him a stern countenance.

The half-elf stepped up to the King respectfully

"I am Sesh, I am a tactician for the Temple Knights"

The King's spirit quivered, though his body did not betray this.

"Sir Sesh-"

"Pardon me milord I don't wish to be impudent but I am not a knight. I am a tactician, and only a tactician"

"Very well, Sesh. Are you by any chance a half-elf?" he asked as he appraised the young man's reactions with a hawkish gaze.

Sesh was taken aback slightly by the question. What did it matter if he was? Did that make him less of a man in this King's eyes as well?

"Yes I am lord"

"Half Arphann?" asked the King, the last word hung like a rock from the tip of a cliff.

Sesh fingered his ears

"Yes lord"

The King considered what to ask next, he was not going to give anything away just yet. By the Gods he looked just like her, same expressions and same ears. He-he had to make sure.

"And who is your father? An Arphann man who charmed a maiden?"

"No, it was my father a man who charmed an Arphann woman"

The King continued to check off his mental list of information, by the Gods could it be?

"And who was your father? A soldier in a duke's army by the Darklands?"

"No" answered Sesh, hesitant to continue but he forced the words out of his throat.

"He is King of the Divine City and before you ask lord I am not a prince. I am his bastard" said Sesh, a tint of venom in his voice, expecting the same condescending tone he received from everyone who knew better than he did that the King of the Divine City would not be caught dead in that situation.

King Vyden's eyes widened as he clasped his hands on the elf's shoulders.

"My boy, listen to me very carefully. I need you to answer this question truthfully" he said, but the merest whisper laced with high hopes. Could this be the obscure progeny of the King of Light?

"The Bastard of the Divine City", could it really be?

"What was your mother's name?" he asked him, knowing that all Arphann's being natural liars towards the other races always went by two names. The names they gave themselves when in foreign lands and the secret names none but their kin knew of.

"Her name was Song" answered the boy, oblivious of what the King knew.

The lord of Varrvazzarr smiled warmly, there was only one more question he wanted to ask.

"Very good my boy, now I will ask you; what is her real name?" he whispered.

Sesh backed away, that trick amongst the Arphann was very secret. Only scholars knew, but why would this King want to know?

"I- I will not tell you. Why do you want to know her name?" he asked, the distrust clear in his expression.

The King sighed, he was just like his mother.

"Because I knew her my boy, we fought together and I saw her off after she was sentenced"

"That's a lie!" he yelled at the King. Then minding his voice he lowered his head.

"That is a lie, you did not know her"

The King smiled and pulled a message parchment from his sleeve and reached for a quill from the table near the hearth.

"I will write your mother's name on one half of this parchment. But I want to be sure, I need to be sure you are her son. So I will ask you to write her name on the other half. I will present you with my own piece, a sign of good will. And should it prove to be correct, you hand me yours with her name written on it. Should I mistake her name, you may ask me to thrown the parchment in the fire and I will do so on my word as King" said Vyden as he scribbled a name on his half of the parchment with a flourish.

He folded the message and handed it to him between two fingers.

Sesh took it tentatively, then he wrote the name on his own piece of parchment and handed it to the King who made no attempt to look at it.

"So, did I remember her name correctly? Or is age failing me?" he asked as Sesh unfolded the parchment only to gasp and look at the King with the utmost humility and the highest degree of surprise.

The King, taking that for a confirmation that he was in fact correct, he unfolded his parchment and look at the name that had been tenderly written.

_Pyurrot_

Vyden, never in a million years expected this to happen. That he would meet the son of Pyurrot, one of the most nebulous figures in the war. He had promised her that he would keep the secret of her exile with him to the grave, and he had kept his word throughout the nineteen years of Sesh's life. But as he continued to hear the young boy's retelling of his life he found his iron resolve melting like ice against the sun.

Sesh had been a pleasant guest and a talkative youth. When Vyden explained how he had been involved with his mother in the war the half elf poured out every secret and experience in his heart for Vyden and his sons to hear.

His mistreatment by Inphyy and his father

Aspharr being the golden child at the courts

His mother's exile or at least what he still believed to be true.

His day to day life and his condition as the bastard prince of the Divine City

The lack of fairness in how the Light had chosen Aspharr and Inphyy and not him for the mission of ending this war

"The Divine Light knows the spirits of men and women, in its Will it ordains and empowers only the most righteous to carry out its Will. Or so the Church tells us" said Vyden as he offered Sesh another piece of bread because the boy would not touch any lavish food, a force of habit perhaps?

Sesh's eyes brimmed with tears of anger

"My boy, I would not place much stock in what the Church says or what the Light chooses to do" he added with some weariness

"I've seen the value and stock of the Temple Knights and in both spirit and in acts I've found them wanting. Perhaps Inphyy and Aspharr will change my opinion?"

"Doubtful. But, if I may ask-"

Sesh looked down at his plate, his hands clenched.

"Have you heard of what became of my mother?"

Vyden closed his eyes, he knew that the question was coming, for an instant more he considered if he should tell the boy. Better that he should hear this from him than from Inphyy or Aspharr or Light forbid, the King.

He felt it was cruel of him to keep the boy in the dark but, he couldn't tell him, if this ever traced itself back to him he and his sons would find themselves on the executioner's block at the Divine City.

"She was an idolater of the Dark. You know this" said Vyden in his most sympathetic voice. He was a hard man, this deceit was just one more burden he would carry.

Sesh seemed to want to disappear in his chair, his head hung and his expression was dark.

But then he saw something he was not expecting

A smile

An unhinged, joyous smile

Something told Vyden that perhaps Sesh was not thinking clearly, after continuing to dine in silence they all retreated to their quarters and set Sesh into the best accommodations of the cold castle. In the darkness of the room only moonlight shone in through the window, all that was visible was the light reflecting off Sesh's yellow eyes and the sheen of his wide smile. He laughed in whispers as if he was privy to a grand jest that only he was privy to.

Vyden felt a deeper pang of guilt the following day and a low dread in his gut.

He didn't find Sesh in his room when he was told by his guards that the enemy was mobilizing and they were moving in force through the Ice Gate. The boy was experienced in matters of war, that much was certain so he would be invaluable in the defense of Varrvazzarr.

Vyden felt he was dishonoring the memory of his comrade when he had no idea where her son was. But that changed to a feeling of complete failure when he saw, across the icy fields what had happened to the Ice Gate.

The half-elf led a small clutch of knights in the early stages of the attack to the massive doorway, his eyes were crazed and his manner was jittery. The knights told him that the young man spoke with a force of spirit and an eloquence befitting an Emperor. They themselves were not at all sure, in retrospect, how he had convinced them to do what they had.

Sneaking over to the Ice Gate's icy peaks they had slaughtered the goblins and had taken control of the one mechanism that was designed to seal off the gate in the case that it ever fell for good.

An old and secret thing that only Vyden and his sons had known about in addition to the scholars of the Divine City who had studied the history of the ancient gate.

Upon reaching the site in the heart of the tunnels that led to the mechanisms that opened and closed the gate, Sesh sent them off.

"Return to your lord, your lives need not be lost here. I will remain to assure that the goblins and their allies are crushed under the gate and can never threaten Varrvazzarr again"

The knights hailed him as a knight himself and left. When Vyden and his retinue arrived, there had been a raging battle inside the Ice Gate for hours now. A single crazed half-breed was jealously guarding something inside the gate. As the enemy army rumbled through the open gates the young man threw his wiry body against a mechanism inside the chamber he guarded and hammered away at the ice.

Three clashing blows struck the gears and the mechanism was set in motion.

The imperious Ice Gate slid off its frozen hinges and fell upon the thousands strong army of the forces of Dark like the sky itself. Along with the giant doorway, the arc and ice that kept it in place collapsed as well, taking the young man along with it.

All the way outside the chamber and as he battled the goblins and orcs, the half-elf had a suicidal look in his eyes and a joyous smile to accompany it. As the ice broke off from under him and he fell to his doom along with his adversaries the elf's smile died as he beheld the army camp that was still in waiting.

The ten thousand enemy troops were destroyed and there were perhaps a hundred thousand more awaiting the command to flood through the Ice Gate and join the goblin king who attacked from the east.

Sesh lay amidst the jagged ice, the fire in his blood burning like the sun as it pumped through his failing, broken body and as it spilt itself on the ice slabs that had impaled and in part crushed him.

He felt no pain, he felt no anger, he felt no remorse or no sorrow.

Sesh, son of Pyurrot, felt happy. He was finally proving what he could do, he caused that much destruction and suffering in an instant and this was something done out of desperation. What he could do if he had an army at his disposal?

His unhinged little smile returned.

The cold numbed his head and torso he could feel something, a grip, fastening on his head.

_"Do you know why your mother was sent away?" _said a growling, dark voice. Something unclean and malicious came upon him, a black presence.

Sesh looked about trying to find where it came from only to realize it was within him.

_"Do you know why you are treated the way you are by Inphyy?"_

_"Do you know why you are treated the way you are by your father?"_

Sesh bore his teeth in rage

_"Anger? Good, one of your greatness should be furious. What busy little bees you are surrounded by. Men and women bent on preventing you from achieving your full potential, why? Because they fear you and who you will become"_

_"You are the Bastard of the Divine City because your father seduced and married the Arrphan queen in secret in order to manipulate her people to his own ends to be Archbishop of the Light. This failed so he kept you as a bargaining chip. The only one aware of this treachery was Inphyy's father, your friend Lord Vyden and lastly your mother"_

Sesh's eyes widened in pain and his breathing slowed as the warmth in his body left him more and more as the grip tightened more and more.

_"In the final battle of the last war of men and goblins your father ordered Pyurrot to leave Inphyy's father to die should things go badly for him for he was the only one with the strength to oppose him. Your mother obeyed, to not do so would mean the death of her darling son. Afterwards, like a spent wench she was sent away"_

_"And you my child" _the voice chuckled. It was a sound that hurt the ears and made one's eyes tear up.

_"You were kept as a dream catcher to ward her away. As the years have passed, Pyurrot has fallen more and more out of power and in par so has your importance. Now the King cares not if you live or not"_

Sesh wanted to fight it, but everything the voice said he knew it to be true. In his heart he knew it to be true he hated everyone and everything so much. For every word the voice spoke the more he hated.

As the thought was birthed in his mind the voice answered.

_"But I can offer you an escape. No more fear, no more pain, no more humiliation. Power eternal and immortality, if you swear your fealty to me I will grant you everything you will ever need to bring vengeance upon anyone who ever wronged you. My child, swear your fealty to the God of Night and yours shall be the majesty of living on in eternity as my champion"_

Sesh's heart had stopped, but by something unnatural he hung on.

_"Worry not my champion, power comes from within oneself. Tell me, what do you consider to be the source of all this power you have revealed as of late?"_

_"It is rage"_

_"And just as it has been your sustenance, it will be your power manifested"_

"_Will you swear yourself to me? The King of Ninety Nine Nights demands obedience_"

Coughing blood and through punctured lungs and broken ribs Sesh gasped "Yes".

Sesh felt the fire in his blood bloom anew as something dark, something ancient and cruel touched his heart.

He had but a single thought as he felt the power of Dark imbue within him its protection and released the power of his Orb, his spirit.

He cared not for anything anymore, his sole purpose was war now. He was retribution and wrath made into flesh.

And the whole world would suffer him.

_"Release the cataclysm of war my champion, in all its glory! Fulfill your repatriation, however many hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of lives stand in your way, fulfill your repatriation! Send their broken bodies to their nations of origin and send their spirits to the afterlife!"_

A broken figure raised itself upon its broken body, two glowing red eyes pierced the gloom of the snowfall as it stood.

_"Yes, my King"_ whispered a voice as cruel as the edge of a gnarled, ugly blade.


	5. Chapter 5

**Massacres and Martyrs**

The human army marched steadily towards the orange sands and stone of the goblin lands. Their pace was measured, their countenance grave. No longer caring if they were spotted or not they continued ever onwards to Fort Wyandeek. Leading the army were a crimson knight and a blue lancer. Between the two there was absolute silence. With a flourish from her sword, the crimson knight gestured towards the funnel of the canyon where the hordes waited in plain sight.

Footmen behind pike men behind men with great swords charged. But far before them the crimson knight charged with the lancer only a dozen feet behind her.

Arrows flowed around her form almost as if deterred by magic. Her blade glowed with a fireless blaze and her figure blurred in its embrace.

Her sword, a bloody crimson thorn swung out in a reckless arc whose fiery power arced in an electric hue of oranges, yellows and reds. The bodies of scores of goblins were sliced in half as the blade and its steely power licked out to their bodies and the bodies behind them. With a scream of hatred from the young woman knight, goblins fell by the hundreds before the human army ever fell upon them like a tempest of steel, anger and vengeance.

The horde, held for a moment before turning on itself and charging again, and again, and again.

With each renewed attack, the hammer of the crimson knight fell upon them.

For every thousand that was slain, another thousand came to the bottleneck. In a hurricane of energy the churning crush of tribal goblins was torn apart, burned and turned to ash or semi-charred corpses.

Through the licking flames the crimson knight continued unerringly towards her objective.

Shaman's began to chant in a language apart from goblin or human. A primal language: words of shadow. As their chanting intensified violet lightning ebbed out towards the armies and struck home, obliterating soldiers and killing those closest to them where the lightning forked out. The girl in crimson armor moved at a ludicrous speed towards the witch goblins slicing them in half or killing them with hammer blows from her gauntlets.

The army clashed against the skirmishers of the Wyandeek goblins and utterly destroyed them. Stone and iron weapons were of no use against steel plated armor and ember forged weaponry.

"Inphyy stop!" screamed Aspharr as the goblins threw down their arms in pleading surrender. The crimson knight had only hellfire in her eyes as her blade cleaved their frail bodies open. Charging forward and followed by the army their crush fell on the goblins that were left. Charging further, every forward without rest or stop. The rush of the army was absolute, in full sprint their weapons lashed out striking bodies and felling couples, trios and individuals.

"Stop it! That's enough!" roared Aspharr as no one heard him and continued.

Through the churn of the army and the screams of felled bodies he rushed past as the crimson knight strode menacingly at a trio of goblins who stood at the edge of the cliff upon which one of the many bluff-homes were situated. The goblin man held a knife at her as menacingly as he could despite how the terror was clear in his face.

Unimpressed the crimson knight smiled a cruel teeth bearing smile.

Her blade came down and split the goblin in half as the shriek of her older brother spiked throughout the clamor and cacophony of battle.

"Inphyy! NO!"

His wife and daughter shrieked in response of the horrifying scene. The knight without breaking stride smiled in joy as she approached the couple, the terror in their faces was everything she could have hoped for.

The mother goblin and her daughter ran away from her and jumped off the cliff.

As the battle died down, only Inphyy stood motionless on the lip of the cliff. Her mind struggled with what she had just witnessed. A mother and a child had just committed suicide rather than to die at her hands. The harsh sands of Wyandeek and her sun baked earth represented a better death than at her hands and that of her holy blade.

Looking about the field behind her she saw her brother on his knees, weeping. The soldiers around her trudged about scavenging whatever valuables were in the village.

Village, she just realized. Not a fort anymore, no that had been annihilated a mile back. This was a village inhabited by women, men and children.

Her gaze fell on her armored hands. The silvery steel of her gauntlets was soaked and caked I gore and blood. The image of Sesh's face exploded in her mind, as did his warning about Wyandeek.

They had just destroyed a legion of goblin soldiers. But, they had slaughtered thousands more than that who were just innocent……Yes, innocent goblins who had nothing to do with the war.

They murdered the handful of guards and put to the torch all the families of the castle, so to speak.

_Oh Light, what have I done_. She thought to herself as the hammer stroke of guilt smashed into her conscience. She wanted revenge, but not like this. Not even like this, just nothing having to do with murdering families.

Inphyy slouched as she felt very weak all of a sudden, more vulnerable and more tired. She felt as though something had left her spirit.

_The Blessing of the Light_

Aspharr breathed deeply as Ana came up behind him, every bit as horrified as he was and helped him to his feet.

Her thick brown hair which was cut in a boyish fashion was a mess, as it usually was, but her vivid green eyes now puffy and red with tears gave her the image of being genuinely ravaged.

"Inphyy, what have you done?" said Aspharr as a mix of rage and disappointment dawned on his face.

"I-I didn't mean to-"

"TO WHAT?" Aspharr screamed at her

"To murder and entire city of villagers? To lead a massacre that will be remembered forever?" he continued as his fists balled themselves around the shaft of his lance.

Seemingly before Aspharr would charge to strike her he stopped as a messenger came running to his heels.

"Sir!" reported the messenger and the Temple Knight half minded him.

"I-I have a message from Castle Varrvazzar, sir" the messenger continued as the urgency voided his fear of an angry Knight.

In the month it had taken them to Wyandeek it had taken Sesh only a fraction of the time to arrive at Varrvazzar. Inphyy hoped for good news to ease what had just happened. In a way to have the best of both worlds as much as it was possible, to have saved Varrvazzar and to have destroyed Wyandeek, its military threat anyway despite the massacre.

_I am such a coward_ she thought as the little footnote followed her greater hopes.

"What have you to report?" demanded Aspharr, his anger suppressing his calm, kind nature.

The messenger bent his knee as he spoke.

"The invasion force arriving to Castle Varrvazzar has been halted for now. Sir Sesh of the Temple Knight annihilated their first attempt to breach the Ice Gate"

Something akin to joy and pride dawned on Aspharr's face as he was told of what Sesh had just achieved. True to his word, all on his own he would save Varrvazzar. Inphyy's eyes widened in shock and surprise. Sesh had really saved the castle from the brink enough to stabilize the situation? Had he stopped what had taken to goblins almost a year to do? Had he succeeded where the esteemed Lord Varrvazzar failed?

Amazing

Ana's eyes brimmed with tears of relief. "Sesh did it, I knew he'd be alright!" she squeaked as she clutched at her breastplate in excitement. Aspharr shared her enthusiasm, albeit at a diminished intensity, the massacre's blood was still wet on his hands.

"N-no" stuttered the messenger.

Silence befell the trio.

"Sir Sesh, on his own went to the Ice Gate. Penetrated the defenses with a handful of knights and there he collapsed the Ice Gate on ten thousand of the enemy warriors. But a hundred thousand more labor to clear the way for their of the north"

Aspharr's eyes narrowed darkly

"But he's got the situation handled, right?"

The messenger cringed

"No sir, he's dead. He fell with the collapsing Ice Gate"

Ana's knees failed her as she fell to her knees, tears bled out of her eyes as she sobbed quietly. No, this could not be!

Inphyy's eyes also began to weep

"What do you mean he's dead?" she screamed at the messenger as if he was responsible for his life.

"H-he's dead Milady!" cringed the messenger as he fell backwards from the force of character behind Inphyy's outburst.

"You may go, thank you" breathed Aspharr as he suppressed the pain in his heart. Logic told him to stay with the army and prevent its fracture in disunity. But his conscience and his heart screamed at him to go with the half elf. Had he been there, could he have prevented his death? Could have something have been done?

Aspharr helped Ana to her feet and stroked her hair carefully. He knew how much she adored the half elf and how much she yearned for his reciprocation. She was not only weeping for a friend, she was heartbroken.

"We-we'll go to Varrvazzar and avenge Se-" began Inphyy before Aspharr silenced her with but a single venomous glare.

"Stop talking, right now" he said to her, hatred clear in his voice.

The army settled down for the night only to pack and retreat the way they came the day before. There was nothing more to be had at Wyandeek. Nothing lived there that was goblin. Bodies littered the field as the humans were spiteful enough to leave all the bodies where they had been cut down as a warning.

It's a funny thing, from a distance human and goblin corpses look alike. And in the face of butchery they defend their homes with the same ferocity and in the face of loss they weep the same tears of blood.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Grey March**

Inphyy, alongside Aspharr marched with their army behind them, Castle Varrvazzar sat mournfully in the distance. While there was no snowstorm, there was an unsettling mist in every opening of the valley, the clearing itself, was disturbingly devoid of any shroud. In patches about the field and several openings, Inphyy could spy black shapes and protrusions; dead bodies and weapons that hadn't been cleared or buried, or placed into re-use.

She had a good mind to ask why they had not done this yet, it was a bad omen to leave your soldier's bodies to rot.

They hurried to the front as they saw soldiers gathering in the small ramparts in the very front of the gates.

They ran as fast as their legs could carry them.

"Soldier! Report!" shouted Heppe as they neared the closest rampart, carved out of aged stone, mud and wood.

The grimy, jumpy man looked at Heppe and both had the same stray thought;

_-The Templars have had it easier than we have_

The man stood nervously and saluted Inphyy and Aspharr as they came closer.

"Temple Knights! We are grateful for your assistance, I am sorry about your comrade, he was a testament to the valor of a Champion of the Light"

Sesh's face flashed through the face of everyone who heard the man speak and they grimaced.

"Re-port" said Inphyy, stepping up to the man, her conscience raw from having heard mention of Sesh and being in the place that would turn out to be his grave.

She remembered the dead soldiers out in the battlegrounds and swore to herself that she would find Sesh's body, however long it would take her and she would carry it to the Castle and bury it with all honors due to a hero of the Kingdom.

It was then that they heard a horn, a deep, thunderous, orcish horn.

Through the mist, they could see a contingent of orcs, trolls, goblins and other beasts approaching, a contingent of well enough size to take the ramparts.

"Damnation!" yelled the man in charge of the bulwark's defenders.

"That knight of yours that had come a month ago and sacrificed himself to buy us time. But I fear it might have been a death in vain, the Bulwark will fall if they keep coming in waves of that size" said the man.

Inphyy looked at him with disgust, "You there! Get your men ready, we will meet the enemy head on"

Before the commander, who turned out to be one of Lord Varrvazzarr's three sons, could argue something caught their eye.

The contingent had stopped in mid field and was looking as if there was a squabble amongst them, it was only when they began to shift backwards, all of their spears and archers facing the Gate, and the tundra behind it, that Inphyy noticed that someone or something was coming.

Whatever it was, the goblins didn't seem to be happy to see it. More than anything, they seemed to be afraid.

The son of Varrvazzarr sensing an opportunity marched his troops forward to meet the enemy troops in at the lip of the small hill where they would be at a disadvantage for charging if they tried it.

Inphyy and the Temple Knights followed suit, marching alongside the troops protecting their flank. They would have been smiling if they hadn't seen what came out of the mist behind the goblins.

In the bottom of a topographic V, trapped and slowly panicking, the goblins began to squabble and fight over what to do. But everyone, stopped talking when the mist gave way to monsters.

Human soldiers of great size, the biggest among them easily being the size of an Orc and the smallest being larger than the biggest men that anyone had ever laid eyes on marched silently to the lip of the V and looked down.

Heppe stuttered when they heard roaring and screeching from behind the mist, behind the giant men emerged a cacophony of monstrous sounds. The army behind the great wall was being slaughtered.

The Temple Knights and the soldiers felt cold chills up their spines. While the cold of Varrvazzarr could normally cut to the bone, the silent, misty frost that the knight army had brought with them chilled the heart and killed the spirit. By some unseen signal the army marched in long strides, shoulder to shoulder with weapons the size of men and stepped up to the goblins which pressed into each other, trapped between the defenders of the Castle and these unknown soldiers. When the first line of the warriors reached the goblins with perfect order, they lifted their massive weapons and brought them down un-stylishly on the edge of the mob shattering the frail bodies of the frightened goblins.

When the cornered orcs snapped they charged the line of black knights and they were cut down as well, some of them were impaled then swung cleanly over the marauder's heads and into the back ranks where they were subsequently torn apart.

The trolls roared and charged into the line bashing away the knights with visible effort, but no sooner had they broken into the first three lines. Their legs and stomachs were cleaved open and the marauders in crimson armor broke into a run with unnatural speed and launched their bodies into the trolls and toppled them backwards into the ground, these same crimson knights swung their cruel axes with surprising speed into the faces, necks and chests of the trolls with just one hand.

While the trolls were reduced into dismembered, gory, blood pulps, they screamed;

_-Kill, Crush and Destroy!_

_-Bloooooooooooood!_

Their voices were guttural and metallic in a way, each sounded like three voices in varying tone speaking at the same time.

The goblins began to scream and strike back at the knights, their maliciously sharp blades bounced and scrapped off the attacker's armor. These hoisted them up by their necks and tore out their spines or threw them back into the ranks to be done the same or worse. The defenders of Varrvazzarr looked away and grimaced at the butchery, they were at a relatively safe distance, but this view was destroyed when a terrified goblin ran up to them without thinking seeing them as saviors and was impaled by a claymore, a double handed sword the size of a man which was thrown almost fifty feet from the battle to its target and hit it accurately.

The slaughter was brief and brutal, but many of the contingent had been spared, they were being beaten into the dirt, forced to eat snow with blood, while others were being dragged away in manacles.

Whatever the knight army had planned for them they didn't want to know.

The Temple Knights watched the scene like it was a dream, most of them weren't even aware enough to get into a battle stance. They watched the battle like they weren't part of it, they forgot the cold, they forgot the war, and they forgot themselves.

But it was only when four of the knights approached the defender's battle line with their weapons down that Aspharr had enough sense to order everyone to be ready and to only attack on his mark.

There was something about how the knights were approaching that told them that they did not mean to hurt them.

The four knights shifted their course towards Aspharr singling him out from the lines. Inphyy ran to his side and stood defensively in front of him.

The knights were all the more terrifying now that they were up close to them.

Their armor was iron, heavy and coarse, the same was as bloodcaked as their weapons, stained by gore and mud.

Their helmets were horned or bladed, the faces of the same were skeletal or the visors of the same were constructed to reflect monstrous shapes.

They did not speak a single word, but stopped almost twenty feet away before parting to reveal a smaller knight.

The same marched with an imperious authority and surety towards Aspharr and Inphyy.

This knight's armor was a different tone than the other's. It was ash black, with its trim being white as the virgin snow atop the surrounding mountains. His fur cloak was blacker than the armor, darker than the cloaks that every knight in the army wore. He carried a rectangular longsword as beautiful as it was morbidly dark and foreboding, engraved with black runes on its shiny silvery edge. The horrifying visage was complete by the knight's helmet. A horned, brutal thing, the eye slits glowed with unnatural energy and the mouthpiece was a clenched jaw of interlocked metal teeth.

He spoke with the same kind of guttural voice his soldiers had, but it was cleaner and softer somehow, it was a charismatic voice.

"Hello" said the commander.

Inphyy looked back at Aspharr then back at the commander. Her hand, never leaving the pommel of her blade.

"Who are you?" she asked, her words like venom.

The commander took off his helmet.

Aspharr nearly threw up, Inphyy felt like her heart was about to explode.

It was Sesh.

His skin as pale as Inphyy's, cut with red, ritualistic markings and his hair, draping down to his shoulders and as white as a corpse's skin.

Altered, but very much alive.

His once, warm yellow eyes, were now a hellish crimson.

The half-elf's cruel red eyes pierced Inphyy's own like a glass arrow through her heart.

"Hello Inphyy" he said as he stepped up to her.

She backed into Aspharr who had backed into a soldier who had backed into the one behind him.

He smiled a smile as cruel as his eyes and spoke again.

"What's the matter Inphyy? You look nervous" he said as he stroked her arms.

Inphyy's vision blurred and everything came to darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

A deathly silence settled upon Castle Varvazzarr as the Temple Knight's army set in for the night followed by the monstrous knight legion. While men seek the creature comforts of warmth and food, perhaps a soft bed to rest upon the knights sought no such luxuries. Without instruction they stood at the gates of every opening into the castle at strict attention never speaking a word. Only their dark abysmal eyes slits followed the movement of men in a robotic fashion, seeing them but not truly noticing the humans. All throughout the night they stood ever vigilant upon the gates with the frigid air hanging heavily around the bulwark, never once slacking and never once resting. Ever at the ready for battle without a moment's pause.

Every resident of the castle gave them a wide berth, no one was valiant enough to question their being there.

Inphyy twisted around in her sleeping garments as the smaller knight grabbed her by the ankle and yanked her back. All her training and strength failed her as she struggled feebly against the absolute hold of the knight. Slinging her over his shoulders he walked almost casually to her voluminous, virginal white bed, dropping her on it his armored hand groped at her nightgown. She could smell everything as terror sharpened her senses; the bed reeked of roses and incense was burning in the hearth.

The red haired girl's heart thundered in her chest and terror tore at her guts. This was it wasn't it? Punishment for Wyandeek? Punishment for Sesh?

She began to shriek as the knight's gauntlets tore open her gown exposing her chest, screaming for Aspharr, Heppe and her father she squirmed and kicked away from the knight before he tore her back under him before pushing her arms into the bed by her wrists.

Ceasing her screaming her eyes glued themselves to the two hellish crimson slits of the knight's helmet.

"Please…..no" she managed to breathe as his hand caressed her cheek then wandered down to her naked chest. The stroke was almost fond.

The voice spoke, clean yet frightening at the same time.

"Do not fret my love. I am not going to hurt you" he began as the two glowing eyes continued to burrow into hers and his hand continued to stroke her breast where her heart was.

Inphyy couldn't blink as the air in her lungs turned acrid from being held in, as if breathing out would provoke him into raping her.

"I gave you my heart years ago, and ever since you've refused to care for it" the knight began as he leaned down to an inch of her face. The monstrous mouthpiece of the knight's horrifying visage grazed her cheek gently, a sound akin to sniff came from the helmet.

"And to add insult to injury you've refused to give it back to me"

The girl began to openly cry

"Please…don't hurt me" she whimpered as her arms weakly tried to slip themselves free. They couldn't, his hold as gentle as it was it was titanic. There would be no release unless he so allowed it.

Somehow without her knowing his waist slipped between her legs and it pressed into hers, her head began to jerk from side to side as if she could snap out of the situation she was in. She began to shriek "No" over and over again as her mind struggled with what he was about to do to her. A million little things slipped into the lightning current of her mind. The feeling of violation, the pain of what was to come, the disgust of how it would feel the hammer's blow of debility in the fact that he could rape her and there was not a thrice damned thing she could do about it.

The knight's hand snapped over her mouth and silenced her with an instant.

"Quiet, my beauty" the voice slithered

"I am only making the scores even"

Inphyy looked down as his knife pressed into her just below the left side of her ribcage. With a jerk it stabbed through.

The crimson knight awoke with a scream as she jerked about and struggled with who carried her. Striking at the closest thing near her she punched Heppe across his face causing him to drop her. Calming down the instant her back hit solid stone she looked about.

Lord Varvazzarr and his three sons looked at her confusedly, an act that was not shared with her friends who all looked at her coldly, the memories of Wyandeek present still.

Lastly she looked at the knight who sat lazily on a high backed chair by the wolf's head hearth in Varvazzarr's throne room. As her eyes fell upon its helmet she screamed and struggled to get back, memories of his attempted rape still present.

The knight made a sound like a chuckle and tilted its head on its fist whose elbow rested on the chair's armrest.

Removing his helmet Sesh set it on the armrest indifferently, the very air around him was hot with hostility and restrained anger despite his calm and sweet demeanor. His crimson eyes scanned the faces of the humans before him, none of them looked comfortable enough to approach him. The half elf crossed his legs and began to undo the straps around his gauntlets, every piece of armor he wore was exquisite in design as it was frightening. His armor, all of it wore symbols for death. Knee guards were topped off by armor worn to fangs, the armor on his hands which protected the knuckles looked like splintered bone. On his chest plate agonized faces screamed with mouths stretched beyond anatomical limits. Shoulder guards were stylized death's heads. The boots tips were hooked downward, cruelly curving to scrape the floor.

The half elf stroked his hands smoothly and marveled at some indistinguishably interesting point on his hand.

"You don't at all seem happy to see me" spoke the elf casually as he interlocked his hands on his knees and sat quietly regarding them as a whole.

The silence stretched out for a long minute before one of them spoke

"It's just…you're alive" half whispered Heppe before remembering he had a voice and speaking up.

The half elf toyed with a lock of silky white hair behind his ears as he looked at his hand innocently.

"Well, it appears I am" spoke Sesh slowly as if he himself was realizing it, the irony in his voice was overly clear.

"If you are finished pointing out the obvious, perhaps we can return to the business of war" snarled Sesh at Heppe as both made eye contact again.

"Lord, my friend" began Sesh as he beckoned Lord Varrvazzar to the great round table parallel to where he sat.

Getting up and walking to the table the half elf unrolled many of the parchments on the table and settled on one as he waited for an instant before looking back at them.

"My patience is wearing thin" warned Sesh's voice as he saw his order was not met with instant compliance.

"No" chocked Inphyy as she took half a step forward, "First. We want to know how is it th-that you are not dead. Where this army came from. And how did you get this way"

To the mind of anyone present it was difficult to imagine the turning of someone's head as intimidating, yet someone Sesh made it something cruel and frightening.

As his crimson eyes fell on them they narrowed in thought.

_"My Champion, give them no explanation beyond that which they need to hear. Set their little minds to rest"_

Sesh took a deep breath as he turned to speak to them, his demeanor was gentle as artificial as it was.

"I did die, but the Light gave me power, the power to live and to fight" he said slowly so he could hear as the voice whispered again to him.

_"The crimson knight slaughtered the Goblins in Wyaandeek, use this"_

"The Light, it took the power from someone else and gave it to me. I feel the reason was because someone fell from Grace?" he added questioningly, although to his mind there was no doubt.

Everyone looked back at Inphyy who seemed very vulnerable.

The half-elf's mouth opened in smug surprise

"Ah, I see. Did your rage get the better of you?" he chuckled and added "The Legion is the manifestation of my power in the world. They serve me and will continue to do so until we win the war, the Light has given me the tools I need to serve" he lied smoothly

Seemingly satisfied, enough so to approach the table, Aspharr and Varrvazzar approached the table to look at the map, which to their surprise was not a map of Varrvazzar: it was a map of the entire realm.

Sesh pointed to the hilly lands of Mayana. The pasty digit pressed into the city, then slid across straight towards the capital city.

"The Goblin King is marching his host straight towards the City of Light. All of his allies are with him now and together they have enough destroy our capital. We must intercept them"

_"Lead them on my Champion, lie"_

"How do you know this?" asked Varrvazzar's eldest before Sesh turned slowly to him with the sweetest smile he could muster despite his disturbing appearance.

"The Light told me, please. We must go to the Divine City and save them, if the Goblin King takes the city all is lost"

A chill crawled up the spine of every man and woman present. Was that even possible? Could the Divine City be lost?

"Sesh, do you have any idea of how many warriors accompany the Goblin King?" asked Aspharr as the dread in his heart grew more and more.

The Half-Elf closed his eyes mournfully making the most of his still somewhat delicate appearance.

"Over a million of his finest warriors a million more with his combined allies, if we do not go to them they will fall"

Shocked speech spread through those who surrounded him.

_"Good my Champion, lead them on to the Divine City. There await Dwykfarrio and assist him in retrieving the Shard. Our moment is approaching: the beginning of the End"_

After a moment of quick debate, in which Inphyy was excluded, Aspharr clapped his hand on Sesh's shoulder.

"We're with you Sesh" he said mustering a genuine smile for the first time in a month.

The Half-Elf turned to embrace the Lancer warmly

"Forgive my appearance and that of my knights, I cannot explain it. I died in a fit of rage, I suppose they take after what I was feeling. I just- I felt so betrayed, you all let me go to Varrvazzar alone" he said, his fingers clutching at his pointed ears in insecurity characteristic of the old Sesh.

"I was angry, but it is all in the past. Please forgive me"

Aspharr waved the words away from the air

"No, please. Don't apologize, it was my fault I let you go alone. You are a blessing, the King will surely be proud of you when you lead the army against two million warriors" said Aspharr warmth and love for his comrade glowing in his eyes.

"And you will win" he added giving Sesh a jab on the arm.

Sesh looked taken aback for a moment before becoming confident once more, with a look on his face as if he had done something wrong he nodded.

"Thank you, I hope so" he added passionately, lying again.

"He will my brother, he will" winked Aspharr as he glared venomously at Inphyy for an instant.

Sesh walked out with the group as something foreign poked at his mind: very soft guilt. Brushing it away with thought of conquest and glory he smiled happily as his comrades as they both considered what was to come.

_"Do not pity them my Champion. As quick as they were to accept you again, they would throw you away as they did when you came to Varrvazzar. Only I will forever stand by you my Champion, you are one of us. Forever"_


End file.
